Matter of Vasquez v Mejia (2019 NY Slip Op 01780) Matter of Vasquez v Mejia 2019 NY Slip Op 01780 Decided on March 13, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided on March 13, 2019 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, J.P. SHERI S. ROMAN BETSY BARROS LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ. 2018-09547 (Docket No. V-1035-18) [*1]In the Matter of Dunia Y. Ochoa Vasquez, appellant, vCarlos A. Cruz Mejia, respondent. Bruno J. Bembi, Hempstead, NY, for appellant. Michael Kaszubski, Westbury, NY, attorney for the child. DECISION & ORDER In a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, the mother appeals from an order of the Family Court, Nassau County (Sharon N. Clarke, Ct. Atty. Ref.), dated July 6, 2018. The order, without a hearing, denied the mother's motion for the issuance of an order, inter alia, making specific findings so as to enable the subject child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for special immigrant juvenile status pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J). ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Family Court, Nassau County, for a hearing and a new determination thereafter of the mother's motion for the issuance of an order, inter alia, making specific findings so as to enable the subject child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for special immigrant juvenile status pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J). In January 2018, the mother filed a petition pursuant to Family Court Act article 6 for custody of Fernando A. C. O. (hereinafter the child), for the purpose of obtaining an order declaring that the child is dependent on the Family Court and making specific findings that he is unmarried and under 21 years of age, that reunification with his father is not viable due to parental neglect or abandonment, and that it would not be in the child's best interests to be returned to Honduras, his previous country of nationality and last habitual residence, so as to enable the child to petition the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (hereinafter USCIS) for special immigrant juvenile status (hereinafter SIJS) pursuant to 8 USC § 1101(a)(27)(J). In an order dated April 4, 2018, the Family Court granted the custody petition. In May 2018, the mother moved for an order making the requisite declaration and specific findings to enable the child to petition for SIJS. In an order dated July 6, 2018, the court denied the mother's motion on the ground of lack of jurisdiction due to the child having reached the age of 18. The mother appeals. While the Family Court lacks jurisdiction to determine a petition for custody once the subject child reaches the age of 18 (see Matter of Batista v Gaton, 126 ...
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